January 15th, 2022: Moroccan Chicken (Morocco)

“I was wanting a chicken and rice dish, but I wanted to explore a new set of flavors. I have always heard about Moroccan flavors, so we went with a simple dish. The bone in chicken thighs were prepped with sea salt and black pepper (I added a little dusting of peri peri because that’s my jam). The sauce prep was surprising. It included chicken stock (I use bone stock), paprika, cumin, fresh ginger root, turmeric, cinnamon and the zest of a lemon. Once the chicken skins were browned in the rosemary infused olive oil I had left over, they are kept in the warm oven. An onion was caramelized, I added a finely chopped garlic and sautéed together till the onion was soft and opaque. The sauce was added and the pan deglazed before adding the chicken back. The chicken was then returned to the pan, covered in sauce, and set to bake in a hot oven 30-minutes. I had made Jasmine rice to serve it on. The chicken was finished on the plate with lemon juice, pimento stuffed olives and fresh parsley. It was absolutely delicious. The amount of spices in the recipe surprises a me, but we both cleaned our plates.”

Chef Chasan Recipe Notes

• Prep Time: 10-minutes
• Cook Time: 70-minutes
• Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 8 bone-in chicken thighs
• kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 ½ c. chicken bone broth
• 3 T. Indian paprika
• 3 T. ground cumin
• 3 tsp. minced fresh ginger root
• 3 tsp. ground turmeric
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• zest of a lemon
• 2 lemons juiced
• 1 T. canola oil, or to taste
• 1 T. rosemary infused olive oil
• ½ white onion, chopped 
• 1 c. pimento-stuffed green olives; sliced in half
• 2 T. chopped fresh parsley
• parsley for rice, personal preference on measure

Directions:

1. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Let come to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
3. Combine chicken broth, paprika, cumin, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, and 2 tsp. lemon zest in a bowl.
4. Heat oils in a cast iron skillet until they begin to smoke. Add chicken thighs, skin-side down, and cook for 4-minutes. Flip thighs and continue cooking until skin is crispy, about 4-minutes more. Transfer to a plate. Sauté onion in the skillet until softened, 3-5 minutes. Pour chicken broth mixture carefully over onion; scrape up any browned bits off the bottom of the skillet.
5. Return chicken thighs to the skillet. Spoon some of the liquid over the thighs.
6. Transfer skillet to the preheated oven; bake until chicken thighs are no longer pink in the center, 25-30 minutes.
7. Add olives to the skillet. Drizzle lemon juice over the thighs and garnish the whole dish with parsley.
8. Serve with rice tossed with parsley.